From the Director

Greetings from Mayflower Hill!

With joy, and an honest dose of wonder, I am pleased to report that the lilacs surrounding the Diamond Building have finally bloomed. Spring has arrived at Colby!

But, of course, spring on a college campus is always bittersweet, as jubilation over another year’s grind coming to an end is mixed with sadness at the departure of our seniors. While each student is unique, new students and friendships will arrive with suitcases, laptops, and ambivalent parents next Labor Day. I might also note that my wife, Christine, and I will be two of those parents, as our daughter Abigail will be part of the Colby Class of 2018. We’re so proud of her, and we fully expect her to attend more than a fair share of Goldfarb events.

A hearty thank-you for an incredible year is due to the wonderful staff at the center. Amanda, Alice, Lori, Moira, Scott, John, Megan, and Alison worked hard, with the fruits of their labor being a year’s worth of important community programs and a host of public affairs events. This year also marked the beginning of our Goldfarb Student Fellows program, where seven talented students set a high bar for engagement and professionalism. Two of these students, Madeline Wilson and Christopher Henderson, will graduate. They will be missed, and we’ll hold them to their promise to come back and visit often.

I am proud of how our students and staff came together to accomplish so much this year.

As we close out our academic year, we remain resolved about our core mission to help students and others in the Colby community draw important connections between academic work and the duties and obligations of democratic citizenship. We endeavor to transform our students’ earnest desire to make a difference into sustained forms of civic and political activities. Our aim must be to offer contexts where students can deepen their engagement, but with a keen understanding of options, perspectives, and consequences.

And so, although it will be summer and the halls quiet, we’ll certainly be busy preparing for another great year at the center. Please stay tuned for more big things and new initiatives to come.

Warmest Regards,

Daniel M. Shea

Director

Mitchell Lecture Features Former U.S. Senator Thomas Daschle

Former U.S. Senator Thomas Daschle provides his insights on health-care reform in the U.S. for the 2014 George J. Mitchell Distinguished International Lecture Apr. 16.

Former U.S. Senator Thomas Daschle addressed a rapt audience as this year’s guest speaker for the George J. Mitchell Distinguished International Lecture Apr. 16. In his address, Daschle shed light on several key issues regarding health-care reform in the U.S., highlighting what he sees as major strides to better health-care coverage and options for Americans, while also addressing challenges the country’s leaders face in implementing new policies.

“This year’s Mitchell Lecture was a highlight of my Colby career,” said Goldfarb Student Fellow Maddy Wilson ’14. “Having the opportunity to talk with the senator and hear firsthand how these major issues are handled in Congress was an incredible opportunity, and one that I’ll always remember.”

Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell served as a special guest for the evening, providing a warm personal introduction of Daschle, a close friend and colleague of Senator Mitchell’s for more than 30 years. In his remarks, Mitchell invited Paula Goldfarb ’00 to the podium to introduce an important new organization, Home Base, formed through a partnership between Massachusetts General Hospital and the Red Sox Foundation. The nonprofit provides support and resources to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

A complete article, including full audio of Daschle’s lecture, can be found here.

Please click here for more information about the George J. Mitchell Distinguished International Lecture Series.

The Honorable D. Brock Hornby accepts his honorary degree from President Bro Adams as the recipient of the 2014 Morton A. Brody Distinguished Judicial Service Award Apr. 6.

More than 200 members of the greater community joined the Goldfarb Center to honor Maine U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby with the 2014 Morton A. Brody Distinguished Judicial Service Award April 6. The award, given biennially, honors an outstanding United States federal or state judge who embodies the same qualities of integrity, compassion, humanity, and judicial craftsmanship as were exhibited by Judge Brody throughout his lifetime.

Judge Hornby served as the chief judge of the District of Maine from 1996 until 2003, assuming senior status in 2010. Over his judicial career, he has presided over several complex multi-district litigation matters and has accepted a number of national judicial administrative assignments from Chief Justices Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts respectively. In 2009 Judge Hornby was awarded the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award by the American Judicature Society.

The evening also included a panel discussion titled, “Techno-Snooping: Privacy, Technology, and the Evolving Rule of Law,” which explored issues surrounding the struggle to find a balance between the right to privacy and national security. The panel featured some of the country’s leading experts on the topic, including 2008 Brody Award recipient and Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Leonie Brinkema, William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law William Marshall, Associate Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center Ginger McCall, and President and C.E.O. of the International Association of Privacy Professionals J. Trevor Hughes.

Please click here for an article about the event as well as an audio recording of the panel discussion.

Colby Cares About Kids Celebrates!

Mentors Josh Balk ’14, Maggie Cohen ’16, and their mentees pose for a photo booth at the CCAK Barbeque May 9.

The Colby Cares About Kids program celebrated another successful year at the annual CCAK BBQ May 9. More than 400 children from across central Maine joined their Colby mentors for a fun-filled afternoon complete with face-painting, a giant bounce house, fun games, a delicious barbecue, and much more.

“This is a very important day for the program,” said CCAK Program Coordinator Lori Morin. “This is where our mentors and their mentees get a chance to let loose, have fun, and, for our seniors, come together one last time with their mentees to celebrate and look back on the important relationship they’ve formed.”

Please visit colby.edu/ccak to learn more about CCAK and for a link to the recently released CCAK documentary film.

National Science Foundation Grant Provides Opportunities for Students, Professors to Expand Research

For the next three years, eight undergraduate students per year, including four from Colby, will have an opportunity to conduct research in the church forests of Ethiopia thanks to a $390,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Travis Reynolds and Assistant Professor of Biology Cat Collins, co-principal investigators for the grant, will provide guidance for the students’ work.

The grant gives Reynolds, Collins, and their team of undergraduate researchers the ability to expand on previous research conducted by Reynolds in the church forests, some of which was supported by the Goldfarb Center. In January 2013 the Goldfarb Center collaborated with the international nonprofit TREE Foundation to sponsor a Church Forests Workshop in South Gondar. Among several other projects, Colby students Lydia Ball ’13, Kate Hamre ’13, and Sally Holmes ’13 worked with five Ethiopian students from Debre Tabor University to help implement and document the workshop.

To learn more about the NSF award and current research, please see a recent Colby news article here.

Please click here for a link to the 2013 Goldfarb Center annual magazine, which features an article about Reynolds’s previous research in Ethiopia.

Photo Caption: Colby student researchers collect insect samples at a church forest site with an Ethiopian student and an Ethiopian Orthodox priest.

2014 Oak Fellow Announced

The Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights, a program affiliated with the Goldfarb Center, recently announced the selection of Clare Byarugaba as the 2014 Oak Human Rights Fellow. Byarugaba is an award-winning Ugandan human rights defender who works for gay and lesbian rights in a country that recently criminalized homosexuality and the “aiding and abetting of homosexuality.” She serves as co-coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which was founded in 2009 to fight homophobia in Uganda and to act on behalf of the LGBTI community.

Between Truth & Error

In 2018, the Goldfarb Center will launch a new digital forum aimed at providing the greater Colby community with timely observations, ideas, and insight on matters of public importance. Click the button below to subscribe.